A brand new year brings the promise of a fresh start, a new beginning. If the old year had you feeling the blues more than joyful exuberance, consider adding some of these suggestions to your resolutions and make this year your happiest yet as a home care provider for your loved one.

It’s all a State of Mind

“Happiness is a state of mind, a choice, a way of living; it is not something to be achieved, it is something to be experienced.”—Steve Maraboli

Easier said than done, right? As a family caregiver providing home care services for your loved one, your daily list of tasks can sometimes feel overwhelming and happy as a state of mind can sound like just another self-promoter lecturing the masses on the latest self-improvement method. But with a few quick adjustments in how you think and what you do, you’ll actually see that there is something to be said for the theory that happiness is a state of mind we can choose at any given time.

Be aware. In every moment of every day, we make the choice to let our mind wander to the past where regret lives or to the future where fear lives. Mind you, the past can be filled with beautiful memories and the future with anticipated delights. If that’s where your mind goes, then by all means, set it free. Unfortunately, it is human nature to focus on that which one wants to change instead of that which one aspires to be. Ideally, we focus on the present task at hand with a full heart and peaceful mind.

Feelings. By being aware of your feelings, you will know your thoughts. The mind thinks approximately 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts in a day. That’s a lot of thoughts, most of which are repetitive and irrelevant, to be aware of. If you take a glimpse at how you’re feeling once an hour, you will know what you’re thinking. And then, with calm mindful awareness, lift your thoughts up. Are finances troubling you? Is there anything you can do in the present moment to resolve the issue at hand? If yes, do it. If no, let it go. And then let all those cascading thoughts drift away, take a deep breath, and focus on something to be grateful for—your beating heart, a child’s smile, laughter shared. Before you know it, you will be experiencing more moments of peace and less of pain.

Dream. While staying mindfully present is the aspired way to promote a sense of peace, dreaming has its place. What do you dream of? What would you like this next year to bring? The trick to dreaming is acting as if instead of focusing on the lack of what is. You want a new car. You can either focus on the old car’s issues and how impossible a new car is to attain, or focus on the delicious feeling a new car will bring. What is the make and model? How do you feel driving it? Now, every time that topic comes up, bring your mind to the possibilities instead of the pitfalls. “Assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled.”—Neville Goddard.

You never really know what life has in store for you. Appreciate the moments, laugh more and worry less. Happiness is really just a thought away.